Since when did "Use Application/Browser" FORCE us to use OR?

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I just noticed when I drag a “Use Application/Browser” activity on and automate any browser element… it now FORCES me to use the object repository. If I UNLINK it from the OR, the next time I add a web activity, it re-links and forces me to unlink again.

When did this become a thing, and why?

Is there any way to turn that off?

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Downgrade your version of activities?

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Unfortunately that’s not a long term fix. This is indicative of the general direction the product is going in the future.

I teach this stuff and have been trying to update my courses to help others, but they keep making big changes like this that force me to completely redo my work.

I believe this change will make it more overwhelming for newcomers to initially learn the product. I make a conscious choice to introduce certain skills in a specific order to make it less intimidating to get started. This change removes choice.

The earlier switch from easier open/attach browser activities to the far more complicated “Use Application/Browser” approach made things challenging enough. Now we’re forcing an even heavier cognitive burden onto learners in minute one of using the product.

Creating an OR doesn’t ALWAYS make sense for every automation. The choice should have remained.

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Respectfully, this is the nature of the software, it will get updated alot and you need to constantly be learning and adapting. If you wanted to make your training material and have it static for several years I’m afraid you made a mistake and picked the wrong software.

The changes to application browser for example did make it easier, if you started new, as many activities are streamlined and merged aswell as being more powerful and with better wizards.

If you do not like it getting regular updates, then your only choice is to offer training on standard LTS versions and inform your trainees that the newer versions will have breaking changes.

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I stand by my assertion that not every automation project needs an OR, therefore it shouldn’t be forced on us.

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Fair, and I did not argue against that as I frequently advocate for giving us some choice when a option is made mandatory, but was addressing the wider point that the software will continuously update and is somehow harder for new users, which I don’t agree with.

Integrating disparate features often boosts engagement of those features and makes them easier.

Take Computer Vision, it used to be a pain to use as you had to install a separate package and have two sets of activities etc. Them merging into the modern experience made it far easier to learn how to use and integrate into daily usage even if you did lose some functionality which is desirable (using the LocalServer for the Computer Vision for example).
Its still a net gain and the nature of this software that it keeps changing.

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You’re not wrong in your statement, but there is also a downside to this.

First, I see many changes in UiPath the last few years which come over as ‘for the sake of changing stuff’ without clear benefits. That’s not progress, that is managing your budget and keeping your job or simply not smart. (not going to start the discussion on specific changes here though, since it’s not my main point)

Second, as for integrating multiple functionalities into one, it has the downside of making simple things more complex which more than often backfires. I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to activities. Like it or not, an activity should do ‘one’ thing. If you can’t describe it in a single term, no matter how global, it does more than one thing.
Here as an example the use application/browser. I like that they generlised this in favour of the attach broswer/attach application since this boundry between the two is far more obselete than most people realize. So there: change made life easier, it still does one thing, just zoomed out a bit on the scope. Good.
But, use app/browser not only sets a browser in scope, it starts a browser, or not depending on a setting. It navigates to a URL, or not, it closes in the end, or not, it changes size, or not. (Using this activity as example due to the topic, there are worse activities)
It sounds nice to have it all in one, sure, but my property panel explodes with all the options. 2/3 I don’t need, or at least never at the same time. A simple click: dito. It even leads to unexpected behaviour if you’re not fully sure of your project settings pushing default settings. Even worse, the default project settings differ between studio and attended for some obscure reason.

I know, all are things anybody with an IQ higher than cheese can overcome. But it does make it less transparent, and therefor more error prone. And looking at the level of beginner questions on this forum the past years, the cheese does score a couple of good points once in a while.

If the strategy is to enable citizen developers, keep the tools simpel. There is a reason a Swiss Army Knife is not the only tool sold.

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You have articulated my general sense of anguish VERY well. Absolutely feel the same.

The best part? When they make these big changes with no accompanying documentation update nor training course materials :slight_smile:

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I can very much sympathise with this sentiment but having to get the know the product guys over the past year as I have been an MVP I can assure you that perception is not a accurate to how they work.

They are changing things for good reasons, its just those reasons aren’t always fully explained or clear. It might be part of a wider agenda that isn’t visble yet or other factors.

I’ll give a clear example, the iResource or the LocalResource data objects. Super annoying right, previously we could just put a file path as a string and boom, its done. Now we need to mess with this weird new data type which isn’t documented.
Well it turns out the purpose is related to cross platform compatibility.
UiPath used to have Windows-Legacy, Windows and Cross Platform, all had distinct code bases and activities which some functionality able to be replicated, some not.
They’ve obviously moved away from legacy, and cross platform has become far more relevant with the rising focus on Studio Web, which works exclusively with cross platform activities.
UiPath have therefore strategically decided to focus on making as many activities as possible cross platform, both to increase the availability in Studio Web but also to create a consistent experience (this is in contrast to say Power Automate where their cloud and desktop versions dont share any code similiarities and are totally incompatible).

The iResource is a compromise made to move various activities into a cross platform format (apple and Linux handle file paths differently), so only one version of that activity exists (rather than 3) and it just works everywhere. So it goes from being an annoying ‘you changed it just to change it’ into something that actually does make sense even if its not ideal if you only care about desktop version and windows compatibility.

This is agree is a serious issue, I raised it with the CEO in an MVP call several months back and it was taken seriously. In my personal experience the Integration Service has been the worst offender here. I did make some traction in this issue being taken more seriously and am meaning to follow up as they did promise they’d fix a bunch of things by the end of 2024 so once I get abit of focus time on the topic I’ll see if some of the stuff was delivered. They certainly aren’t putting enough effort in to making sure things are well documented and explained. I think loginerror and some of the other people here on the forums actually do a great job with some release notes such as the community studio version updates that get posted monthly, but alot of the core activities are really bad and don’t even have a linked help page for them.
So consider my solidarity there and that myself and hopefully others that can be more influential in the community will keep reminding them to do better on that topic.